No Lies Just BS

Listen to Nick Swartz tell stories about his life. From growin' up in the small VA mountain town of Clifton Forge to his entry into and career in the tattoo industry. All the rough upbringin', punk rock, family, country, skateboardin', good eatin', blues, ass-kickin', tattooed, hard to believe but addictin' to perceive bullshit that can be packed into each episode. His brother Josh helps out and the guests are the best of the best.

Long time friend and excellent artist Hunter Spanks came down to the Richmond Tattoo & Arts Festival from Read Street tattoo where he works in Baltimore and hung out with Nick for a few hours and laid down some great stories. Lots of history and shared acquaintances, as usual, on this one and just an all-around great vibe from a great dude.

Check it out and stick around for the Shop Talk with Nick, Andrew and Porter and where you'll get to hear Alley Cat Tattoo's first new hire in a long while - Richie Stutler - one month in say: "Hello."

Steve-O is back and I'm not talkin' about the guy from Jackass. Long time member of the Alley Cat family and frequent mention on the podcast joins us at the Richmond Tattoo and Arts Festival, just like he did in Rochester and this is just a kickass episode where we get to sit in on one of a billion conversations he's had with Nick. This time on some good shit they both love.

Road trippin' down from the Great Not-So-White North this week we've got Dave Calavante and Matthew Knopp from Tattoo Paradise in D.C. and Mr. John Rippey from Key City Tattoo in Maryland.

We got to hang out with these dudes this past weekend at the Richmond Tattoo Convention and now, as we gather our faculties from events that may or may not have transpired at the Tat Con, let's all enjoy this heapin' servin' o' podcast from Nick's packed corner office at Alley Cat Tattoo in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley in kick-ass Harrisonburg, VA. There's some great stories and a few fun callbacks in this one.

Shop Talk follows, of course, with Misters Porter and Conner adding to the mix as we head right into our big one year anniversary comin' up. Don't skip the intro on this one as Nick announces somethin' super fuckin' cool for that!

If you've listened for long enough you've heard mention of A Captive Bead Company where Nick used to make body jewelry. Well Nick worked for and with Adam Herstine and his brother Troy, who also owned Alley Cat before Nick.

Well, we've got Adam on here this time and the laughs are never ending. Nick and Adam take a trip down memory lane with a ton of stories from their days on the road for A Captive Bead as well as lots of other shenanigans over the years. You won't stop smiling when you hear these good friends talking shit.

Settle back down with another satisfying Shop Talk and you got yourself an episode!

Comin' up from Empire Tattoo down in Asheville, NC - Devin Burnett talks about becoming a tattooer in the Instagram Age. Nick breaks his balls for a while and finds out how "J.D." put in the work and the hours and the blood, sweat and thousands of dollars to break in to this industry we all love. If there's a right way to do it these days, Devin probably got as close as you can to it.

Porter joins in around the halfway mark and things start gettin' loose from there. Good times and good stories, followed by a Shop Talk to end things up the right way with Nick, Porter and Mr. Andrew Conner.

Dean Schubert of Dean Visual Tattoo all the way out in Arcata, CA rode across the U.S. of A. on his motorcycle, tattooing himself in every state on the way and stopped in only one tattoo shop: Alley Cat Tattoo - where he got the chance to lay down some excellent bullshit with Nick.

Although they had only just met online, Nick and Dean tell some truly entertaining tales and put together a classic episode you won't want to miss. You're all gonna love this one. This is why we do it, y'all.

Shop Talk closes things out as usual with your buddies Andrew and Porter joining the master bullshitter to discuss some serious tattoos.

You've heard him on the Shop Talks already, now sit down with Nick and Ugly Tom as they talk about his tattoo journeys, a lot of shared experiences in and out of the industry, some Absolute gems (of course) and even a deep dive into the mind of a man who can only describe a period of his life as having gone, quite literally, crazy. Good fuckin' times.

This begins our journey to 100, so thanks for sticking around for so long everyone. Lots of fun times and bullshit coming up. Don't look for any lies. Just strap in and enjoy Tom's stories and then a Shop Talk.

Fifty fuckin' episodes. Good times. Great journey. So many guests. So many great stories. This one is special. We've got George Archer from Tantrum Tattoo down in Petersburg. George hung out with Nick and Andrew for some good storytelling. Mr. Archer and Mr. Conner also each did a custom painting to be given away in celebration of No Lies Just Bullshit reaching fifty episodes.

Thanks to everyone who participated in sharing the show and trying to win a painting. And thanks to all of the listeners who have kept us going through all fifty. It's been a great ride that will only get better. So enjoy the talk with George, all of the music that appears in the episode - including our first go at a theme for the show featuring music performed by the awesome Brian Gray - thanks, Brian! - and finish things off right with another Shop Talk.

Nick completes the current Absolute Art crew by sitting down with master fisherman and tattooer Mike Rennie. He's been called out on a bunch of episodes and Nick finally tracked him down in Richmond. Every now and then you can also hear Josh Arment in the background here as well.

Good old stories as well as some great relevant conversation on the industry today. This is yet another great episode leading right into big number fifty. No lies. Just... bullshit. Y'all. And Shop Talk. Definitely Shop Talk.

Nick finally got to sit down and bullshit with another master bullshitter that everyone knows and loves. Beau Beau Butler from Richmond VA's legendary punk band Avail. Lots and lots of great stories here from the tattoo and music worlds. Lots of fun and straight talking. You're going to love it.

Shop Talk follows with Nick, Andrew and Porter and one more time Ugly Tom joins in on the shenanigans.

Another killer episode from Nick's recent Richmond trip. And this kickass piece o' podcastin' is only the first of two parts with Jason Hobbie of Absolute Art in Richmond. In this episode you get to hear some amazing tales of great family, a bit of luck and a lot of legends of the industry.

You're in for another super special Shop Talk to follow as Nick, Porter and Andrew are joined by Mr. Tom Michael - otherwise known as Ugly Tom for a long talk about SKULLS.

Nick talks with Andrew Conner once agian for a good long time. The Alley Cat artist and longtime friend waxes poetic on musical influences and artistic inspiration as he reminisces with Nick about growin' up punk and slightly hip-hop and fully rad.

Enjoy the hell out of this one, bullshitters and stick around for the Shop Talk, of course!

Part two where Nick's joined by Sean Crofoot who tattoos at Leviticus in Minneapolis. There's a lot of talk of his early days and a lot of shared friendships and stories throughout.

And from Legacy Irons Tattoo in Greensboro, the guys from Old Heavy Hands sit down for some talk and tunes as well. Larry Wayne, Nate Hall and David Self all tattoo down South and perform kickass alternative country as Old Heavy Hands. Check 'em out for sure.

Nick has some killer guests this time in the first of a killer two-parter. He's joined by Sean Crofoot who tattoos at Leviticus in Minneapolis. There's a lot of talk of his early days and a lot of shared friendships and stories throughout.

Ol' Crowfoot didn't show up alone, however. Comin' up through the Appalachias from Legacy Irons Tattoo in Greensboro, the guys from Old Heavy Hands sit down for some talk and tunes as well (tunes are in part two.)

Larry Wayne, Nate Hall and David Self all tattoo down South and perform kickass alternative country as Old Heavy Hands. Check 'em out for sure.

You're in for a couple more treats this episode as well: A special edition of Shop Talk where the boys talk about nothin' but roses. And roses are all you need to hear about when this bullshit goes down. It's a great one.

Then we end things off with a full track from Scott Biram called TrainWrecker, off his new album: The Bad Testament. It's a fuckin' rocker, y'all. Enjoy the hell out of it and check out the album.

Here we go, y'all. It's enjoyin' time for a couple o' hours of our Uncle Benny. Just as entertaining as our gone but not forgotten stepfather Tony or, as Nick refers to him, "Pop." This episode was certainly a treat for Nick & 'Lar to record and for me to edit. You all get to sit down, get drunk and jam with some good ol' boys right here.

Nick mentions a song by The Seldom Scene during the episode, so it plays throughout. It's called 'Rider' - was a favorite of Pop's and is a good one. A quick, but excellent Shop Talk follows and makes this a neat package of two hours of bullshit. Have fun.

Dustin Golden from Deluxe Tattoo out of Chicago, IL comes back to Rock Town and into Nick's office to lay down some fuckin' awesome old school stories of back in the day in Alley Cat, runnin' shit with Nick and even farther back literally growing up in tattoo shops from early, early on.

Lots of laughing and great tales to be had in this hot one from two master bullshitters. Don't miss it.

Thanks to everyone buyin' the all of the shirts we've had brilliantly drawn up for us by some of our killer, kickass guests. And even if you haven't bought one: thanks for listening!

Alright patient, loyal listeners: this is the final one with poor audio quality done in the hotel room at the convention. Apparently everything I tried to do to improve the sound while not hanging out in Nick's office backfired because it seems as though the audio on these hotel room recordings got worse and worse.

Please give it a try because Nick is talking with Mr. Jeremy Swed in this episode and they're also joined by the one and only Brian Bruno. It's a killer conversation and worth the strain on the ears.

I apologize for this, but these were all too good not to at least try and share. I consulted experts for this one, to no avail. There is a shiny, new Shop Talk at the end to sweeten the deal, so stick around for that and enjoy the bullshit.

First things first: I really don't know what is going on with the audio on this one. Nick sat down with Jeff Cribb shortly after talking to Scott Sterling and I'm not sure what changed, but the sound just came out weird here. I did all I could to improve things, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

Jeff has a lot of kick ass things to say and the time flies by with Nick and him throwing around stories and ideas without pause. It's a truly great episode that I think will immerse you enough to ignore the imperfections.

Wow! I barely had to edit this one since there's barely a pause to be had. Enjoy the return of tattoo industry legend Scott Sterling while Nick hangs out with him for a good hour and a half of non-stop bull shit!

Great, great friend and bearer of a truly amazing body suit by some of the greats, Steve-O meets up with Nick in Rochester, NY where the Roc City Tattoo Convention is taking place as they record some memories.

The brotherhood is apparent and some crazy stories and tattoo discussion come out on this episode.